Trainee Clinical Coder

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please see below for detailed job description of the role.

Trainee Clinical Coder (Band 3) with progression to Clinical Coder (Band 4)

An exciting and challenging opportunity has arisen for highly motivated individuals to join a friendly team committed to providing a high-quality clinical coding services to the Trust. As a Trainee Clinical Coder, you will receive all nationally approved training from the Trusts Clinical Coding Trainer.

The Clinical Coding Team performs an extremely important role in the information and financial flows of the Trust and is a source of healthcare data for the Department of Health (DOH) and World Health Organisation (WHO). The role of Clinical Coding has never been as crucial, and to support the up-and-coming requirements of the Trust we now need to appoint additional staff.

Being part of the Data & Analytics Team enables our coders to work closely with Analysts and Developers to find new ways to continually improve and develop tools to enhance the service we provide.

This post is full time, Monday to Friday, 37.5 hours per week.

As a large acute trust with many specialist areas, including a trauma centre and regional heart unit, you will have the opportunity to code highly complex and unique cases. Learning and development in these areas is supported, as is the progression of our coders through the National Clinical Coding Qualification (NCCQ), Clinical Coding Trainer and Auditor pathways and leadership courses to support progression to Team Leaders and Managers.

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated ‘Good’ by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

Specific to this role is the suitability for agile working which is a mixture of on-site and remote working.Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need, and we will explore what’s possible for the role and service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 20% lower than London and 14 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

As a Trainee Clinical Coder, you will start on a Band 3 and be regularly assessed during an extensive training and development programme. Once all local competencies have been met you will become a Band 4 Experienced Clinical Coder. This training process takes between 12-18 months to complete.

You will be trained to abstract, analyse, and interpret complex clinical information found within patients’ electronic health records and translate this to the most accurate clinical codes for diagnosis, co-morbidities and procedures undertaken for all discharged patients. It is essential that strict coding deadlines are met for financial and information purposes.

You will need to be a team player with the ability to work accurately, plan and manage your own workloads to meet tight monthly deadlines, communicate effectively with a broad range of key stakeholders, and have the willingness to continue learning and developing your clinical coding skills.

Preference will be given to an Accredited Clinical Coder (ACC) at Band 4 reflecting their expertise, or a Trained Coder working towards the NCCQ.